The Assembly Transportation and Independent Authorities Committee will hold its fourth and final special hearing regarding the state’s Transportation Trust Fund on Thursday morning as part of the 99th Annual New Jersey State League of Municipalities Conference, now underway in Atlantic City.

PLAINFIELD, NJ — Elected officials, transportation professionals and the public are invited to the final 2014 meeting of the Raritan Valley Rail Coalition (RVRC) on Monday, Nov. 17, to discuss the current status of direct train service into Manhattan. The meeting will begin at 8:30 a.m. in Room 119 at the Union County Community College Plainfield Campus, located 232 E. Second St.

CRANFORD, NJ — The Raritan Valley Rail Coalition (RVRC) will host a special public meeting on October 27 from 6-8 p.m. at the Cranford Community Center at 220 Walnut Ave. in Cranford (one block from the train station) to discuss the next steps involved in advocacy for expanded direct train service into Manhattan.

Representatives of the Raritan Valley Rail Coalition (RVRC) gathered Wednesday afternoon for their quarterly meeting with NJ TRANSIT officials to discuss details of Phase Two of the One-Seat Ride initiative, only to learn that NJ TRANSIT officials decided a few hours earlier that the off-peak evening service would not start in November.

Riders along the Raritan Valley line have been able to enjoy one-seat (non-transfer) train rides into New York’s Penn Station since March and had expected an expansion of that service into evenings to be announced in November.

When Governor Christie, citing potential cost overruns, canceled a project to build new tunnels under the Hudson River, many thought the effort to build rail connections between New Jersey and New York was dead, possibly forever.

WESTFIELD, NJ – The Raritan Valley Rail Coalition (RVRC) held its quarterly meeting in the Westfield council chamber on Monday morning to share with the public the outcome of their recent meeting with NJ Transit executives and to hear about the Transit Oriented Development (TOD) taking place in Cranford, a stop along the Union County portion of the Raritan Valley Line.

SOMERVILLE – The implementation of one-seat rides on the Raritan Valley Line to New York City during off-peak hours on weekdays has resulted in an overall 2 percent increase in ridership. That was part of an update on the one-seat ride program that NJ Transit officials delivered to members of the Raritan Valley Rail Coalition this month.

Amtrak Chief Executive Officer Joe Boardman said the two existing rail tunnels that now carry 160,000 commuters a day under the Hudson River will have to be shut within 20 years, according to a published report.

Members of the Raritan Valley Rail Coalition (RVRC) are pleased with the announcement from NJ Transit that one-seat ride service to New York’s Penn Station will be expanded to evenings after 8 p.m., starting this fall.

TRENTON — NJ Transit will expand the one-seat ride service on the Raritan Valley line into New York City to evenings in the fall. NJ Transit Executive Director Veronique Hakim made the announcement in response to a question by Assemblyman Joseph Cryan (D-20th District) during a legislative budget hearing on Monday.

SCOTCH PLAINS/FANWOOD, NJ— NJ Transit executive director Ronnie Hakim revealed in response to questions by Assemblyman Joseph Cryan (D-20th District) during a budget hearing in Trenton yesterday that the railroad plans to expand the one-seat ride service toto New York City via the Raritan Valley line evenings after 8 p.m., starting in fall 2014.

UPDATE: In regard to “one-seat ride” evening service coming to the Raritan Valley Line this fall, William J. Smith, a spokesman for NJ Transit, told The Alternative Press Tuesday, “At this point we are finalizing some logistical issues, so we are not prepared to let the public know how many trains will be utilized and what that schedule may be.”

NJ Transit’s One-Seat Ride on the Raritan Valley Line (RVL), which started during off-peak weekday hours in March of this year, is looking to expand its service to the evening hours starting in November, according to testimony provided by NJ Transit Executive Director Veronique ‘Ronnie’ Hakim.

TRENTON — The Christie Administration today announced that the City of Plainfield has been accepted for inclusion in the state’s Transit Village program, which partners the city with several state agencies to help implement mixed-use development and Complete Streets accommodations near transit facilities.

NEW YORK — It arrived 15 years late, but just in time for train passengers in Hunterdon, Somerset, Middlesex and Union counties. The historic first “one-seat ride” to New York, a dream of Raritan Valley Line passengers since at least 1999, left Raritan Station at 8:43 a.m. today. It was the first direct ride to the city without requiring the usual transfer at Newark Penn Station for Raritan Valley Line riders.

RARITAN – Somerset County Freeholder Peter S. Palmer, who also chairs the Raritan Valley Rail Coalition, was among those boarding the first one-seat ride train leaving the Raritan Borough station for New York on March 3. The train departed from the Raritan station at 8:43 a.m. and arrived at New York’s Penn Station at 10:09 a.m.

The Raritan Valley Rail Coalition and the One-Seat Ride Coalition have announced that NJ Transit will roll out a morning off-peak, one-seat ride to New York’s Penn Station starting March 2, 2014. The trains will arrive in New York between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. NJ Transit has purchased dual-mode locomotives that will operate as diesels through Hunterdon, Somerset, Middlesex and Union counties and as electronic locomotives through the tunnel to Manhattan, making the one-seat ride possible.

RARITAN – Somerset County Freeholder Peter S. Palmer, who also chairs the Raritan Valley Rail Coalition, was among those boarding the first one-seat ride train leaving the Raritan Borough station for New York on March 3. The train departed from the Raritan station at 8:43 a.m. and arrived at New York’s Penn Station at 10:09 a.m.

Union County Freeholder Chairman Christopher Hudak (C) and Freeholders Bette Jane Kowalski and Bruce Bergen were at the Cranford Station when the first NJ TRANSIT train offering “one-seat” direct rail service to Penn Station in New York City arrived Monday morning. The service on the Raritan Valley Line includes stops in the Union County municipalities of Plainfield, Fanwood, Westfield, Garwood, Cranford, Roselle Park and Union.

Mayor Colleen Mahr boarded the first of the “one seat ride” trains at Fanwood station Monday morning, March 3rd, for a ride all the way to New York without having to change trains in Newark. The Raritan Valley Rail Coalition has worked for many years to lobby NJ Transit to establish direct service to New York from the Raritan Valley line, which accounts for about 10% of the total NJ Transit rail ridership.

WESTFIELD, NJ — The town’s first direct train to New York City arrived in Westfield on time Monday morning, at about 9:16 a.m., where residents waited to take their “one-seat” ride on the Raritan Valley Line. Mayor Andy Skibitsky called it “an historic day.” “It’s not everything we want yet, but it’s a start,” said Skibitsky shortly before he boarded the train with Westfield Town Council members Mark LoGrippo and Frank Arena and Town Administrator Jim Gildea. “I’m optimistic that eventually we’ll get all one-seat rides.”

Raritan Valley Line commuters next month will be able to get a trip into New York without having to transfer to another train in Newark, but for now the “one-seat rides” will only be offered on weekdays during off-peak travel hours, NJ Transit officials said today.

The one-seat rides are scheduled to begin Monday, March 3, when the first of five daily roundtrips into and out of New York Penn Station is offered, beginning with train No. 5126, expected to arrive in New York at 10:09 a.m.

Westfield, NJ –The long-awaited one-seat ride to New York on the Raritan Valley Line will begin March 3 on a pilot basis. Tom Morgan, senior director of rail service planning for NJ Transit, told the Raritan Valley Rail Coalition on Tuesday morning that 10 trains with one-seat rides will run off-peak weekdays to and from Penn Station in Manhattan.

It’s long been a dream for Cranford rail passengers to have a one-seat ride to New York City and that wish becomes reality on Monday, March 3 when NJ Transit begins weekday off-peak direct service on the Raritan Valley Line. Peter Palmer is a Somerset County Freeholder and Chairman of the Raritan Valley Rail Coalition. During a meeting in Westfield Tuesday morning he outlined what will happen and the steps that are hoped to follow.

WESTFIELD, NJ — Beginning on Monday, March 3, NJ Transit will offer “One Seat” rides into New York City on the Raritan Valley Line during weekday off-peak periods. Thanks to new dual-powered locomotives, commuters who take these trains will be able to ride into Manhattan without having to transfer in Newark Penn Station.

NJ Transit is scheduling five “One Seat” trips into and out of New York Penn Station. The first one will depart at 9:16 a.m. and arrive in New York at 10:09 a.m.

WESTFIELD, NJ — Beginning on Monday, March 3, NJ Transit will offer “One Seat” rides into New York City on the Raritan Valley Line during weekday off-peak periods. Thanks to new dual-powered locomotives, commuters who take these trains will be able to ride into Manhattan without having to transfer in Newark Penn Station. NJ Transit is scheduling five “One Seat” trips into and out of New York Penn Station. The first one will depart at 9:16 a.m. and arrive in New York at 10:09 a.m.

SOMERVILLE — Not long ago, you could drive on Main Street in the evening and not see anyone. Now, Mayor Brian Gallagher said, in the evenings you see people on the street and you can’t find a parking space.

“That’s the way it should be,” Gallagher said. Somerville is enjoying a renaissance of sorts, buoyed by three construction projects that, when completed, will bring close to 500 apartments within walking distance of the train station on NJ Transit’s Raritan Valley Line.

NJ Transit will start offering direct service into New York City on the Raritan Valley Line in a pilot program beginning March 2.

The pilot program will be only for trains arriving at Penn Station New York between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. weekdays and leaving the station between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., Somerset County Freeholder Peter Palmer said at Monday’s meeting of the Raritan Valley Rail Coalition.

SOMERSET, NJ – The Raritan Valley Rail Coalition (RVRC) announced at its quarterly meeting Monday in Somerset that NJ Transit will roll out a morning off-peak, one-seat ride to New York’s Penn Station starting March 2, 2014 using newly purchased dual powered locomotives. The trains will arrive in New York between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Towns along NJ Transit’s Raritan Valley Line are stepping up their campaign to get quicker train rides into Manhattan.

The Raritan Valley Rail Coalition and Mayors One Seat Ride Coalition this week announced the launch of a new website, which allows users to send prewritten letters to state lawmakers and NJ Transit officials.

WESTFIELD, NJ – Assemblywoman Linda Stender told the Raritan Valley Rail Coalition (RVRC) at its Monday morning meeting in Westfield that the “one-seat” ride was its most important issue and “the squeaky wheel” would be the one to “get the grease”. RVRC is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that has pushed for 15 years for a direct train into Manhattan for the Raritan Valley line, the only NJTransit rail line with track connectivity that doesn’t have a “one-seat” service into New York. Riders on the line destined for Midtown Manhattan must change trains in Newark.

Commuters on the Raritan Valley Line make up nearly one-tenth of NJ Transit’s ridership, but can’t get a train to New York City without stepping off their train and transferring in Newark. NJ Transit has promised those commuters “one-seat rides” to the city beginning in the spring, but commuters say that is not enough, because they won’t be able to get those trains on weekends or during peak ridership hours.

The Raritan Valley Rail Coalition (RVRC) held their quarterly meeting at the Somerset County Administration Building Monday morning to see a presentation about the future of the rail system in the North East Corridor and to update members on the progress being made on the “one seat” ride concept. Ruby Siegel, the Vice President and Senior Project Manager at US Transportation Planning, presented an overview of the Federal Railroad Administration’s current Project, NEC Future–A Rail Investment Plan for the Northeast Corridor.

NJ TRANSIT has announced that riders on the Raritan Valley line will get a “one-seat” ride in Spring of 2014, but only during off-peak hours. Currently, Raritan Valley line commuters must exit their diesel-powered train at Newark and change to an electric train operating on the Northeast Corridor, often on a separate platform, to take them into Midtown’s Penn Station New York, as diesel locomotives are not allowed in the tunnel under the Hudson River.

The idea of one-seat rides to and from New York City is thrilling commuters, who sense how much shorter commutes and fewer delays would improve their daily lives. With NJ Transit’s recent acquisition of dual-powered locomotives, it would now be possible…

The Raritan Valley Rail Coalition (RVRC) held a public meeting in Westfield on Monday morning, attended by a record number of people from various government entities, nonprofits, businesses and private citizens. RVRC Chairman and Somerset County Freeholder Peter Palmer emphasized the need to get the word out about the coalition and its mission to get the Raritan Valley train line a “one-seat” ride into New York City. For years the RVRC, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, has pushed for a direct train into Manhattan along the Raritan Valley line that runs through Fanwood.

Manhattan-bound commuters on the Raritan Valley Line have to step off their diesel-powered train in Newark and transfer to an electric-powered one, because the diesels don’t operate in the tunnel under the Hudson River.

Rail advocates are putting pressure on NJ Transit officials to bring direct access to New York City from the Raritan Valley Line. But NJ Transit has no timetable for when, or if, service will be extended. Citing myriad reasons — mostly economic — officials with the Raritan Valley Rail Coalition believe that time for one-seat ridership is now, based on a NJ Transit $341.7 million purchase of 35 dual-mode locomotives less than a year ago.